We pushed our bikes along. He has just resuscitated his bike after 20 years and doesn't have a lock yet. I had a lock, but I'd left my keys at home. I also hadn't put the fender over the back wheel so my seat was pretty wet from wheel spray. So I stopped here long enough to take this picture. Is Weather Climate? It was a good question and I wasn't completely sure I knew the answer, so I checked today NASA has a long page on this that begins with:
The difference between weather and climate is a measure of time. Weather is what conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time, and climate is how the atmosphere "behaves" over relatively long periods of time.
Electric motorcycle anyone. As much as I like the idea of a silent motorcycle, my guess is that the noise is one reason people buy them.
I really didn't want to push my bike around the whole time, so I asked if we might leave them at this booth. The guy pointed across the way to where BCA was providing bike parking.
JL got to talk to some folks about wind turbines. He's got a specific project in mind, but is concerned about reliability (it's an expensive to reach spot) and ability of the turbine to withstand high winds.
They had a turbine that had survived 200 mile/hour winds in Antarctica.
REAP is the organization that sponsored the fair, if I understand it right. Since it was still raining, getting under the tents was a good incentive, but I my clothes were wet from the bike ride and I was getting colder.
There were lots of different products and ideas floating around. But it was clear to me that a lot of people have taken renewable energy and a clean planet seriously. Here they had stains that were billed as environmentally safe. I couldn't find their website to link to.
The obligatory T shirts were for sale.
The solar panels on display were decorated with raindrops.
This is a storage battery from Outback, a company from Washington State, which sells in Alaska mostly to people with off grid remote cabins. It can connect to solar panels, micro-hydro, or wind turbines, and probably bicycles too.
I stopped to talk to folks here simply because I think, based on hearing KSKA's Bioneer show, that this organization has managed to focus on the perfect mix of science, passion, vision, and practicality as they pursue how we get to a more sustainable and livable future. Their Anchorage conference is
7th Annual Bioneers in Alaska:
Creating Sustainable Communities
University of Alaska Anchorage, October 15-17, 2010
AKPIRG, the Alaska Public Research Interest Group, an affiliate of the Pirgs all over the US started by Ralph Nader, also had a presence. Director Matt Wallace was available to answer questions about AKPIRG's interests in renewable energy.
Why did JL kill off his radio station ?
ReplyDeleteAnon, good question. I've considered writing a post about it. I might be able to get JL to write one himself. I would say, for now, that the characterization that he "killed it off" is probably misleading. Rather, he let someone who had strong opinions about how to do things, prove himself.
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